There’s no getting around the fact that the web is inherently non-green. It’s made up of hundreds if not thousands of servers linked together by numerous networking and security systems. These pieces of hardware run 24/7 consuming thousands of kilowatt hours of electricity. As a business that is intent on addressing the impact we have on the world around us we are naturally curious about the companies we use and what they are doing as well.

The company we chose for hosting our website is a company called 34sp. They are a UK company who aim to provide the best hosting service while actively pursuing the goal of becoming carbon neutral. Some of the things they are doing:

The Green Web Foundation

As a partner of The Green Web Foundation, their hosting is independently verified as environmentally friendly.

Electricity

Our Hosting company uses Opus Energy as their domestic electricity provider, Opus provides a 100% renewable mix of power comprising 45.5% wind, 31.2% solar, 16.3% biomass and 7% hydropower. In addition to efforts to mitigate the impact of their own business workload, their data center provider Teledata also draws on renewable power.

Recycled hardware

Hosting also generates a lot of waste material, mainly in the form of spent hardware. With the help of Tech Recycle every defunct server, switch, router, printer or desktop PC is recycled rather than sent to the dump. For their part, Tech Recycle also commits to planting new trees as part of their business model.

Woodland Trust

Over a given year, the energy consumption of our hosting companies’ infrastructure generates something in the region of 135 tons of carbon. Their Manchester datacenter actually uses 100% renewable power, but we don’t stop there. They also work directly with the Woodland Trust in the UK to offset more than our own energy consumption.

Through the Woodland Carbon Project they contribute funding to help the planting of new native woodland such as oak and beech trees. The Woodland Carbon project seeks to plant on average 25m2 of woodland at various project sites for each tonne of CO2 emitted. CO2 emissions are absorbed from the atmosphere and stored by the trees as they grow.

They are currently committed to planting some 7,500 square meters of new woodland through this scheme each and every year. That’s the equivalent of removing 300 tons of carbon from the atmosphere – more than double what their entire hosting infrastructure creates.